Asia Cup 2022: "It can give a shock to any big player" - Irfan Pathan lauds Virat Kohli's century in IND vs AFG Super 4 match

Irfan Pathan has lauded Virat Kohli for overcoming the shock of failing to score a century, something he was habitual in doing, for a long time.

Kohli smashed an unbeaten 122 off 61 deliveries in India's Asia Cup 2022 Super 4 clash against Afghanistan in Dubai on Thursday, September 8. His knock helped the Men in Blue set a 213-run target for Mohammad Nabi's side and they went on to win the match by a massive margin of 101 runs.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked whether Kohli finally scoring a century would be a huge burden off his back. He responded:

"He is such a big player, he had the habit of doing this repeatedly. We used to see Virat Kohli scoring a century every few innings. He used to give unreal performances but to have a halt put on that, it can give a shock to any big player."

Pathan reckons another century will be seen from the modern batting great's willow pretty soon. The former India all-rounder explained:

"It was a shock for Virat Kohli as well as the fans but that is no longer there. Believe it, you will get to see the next century very soon. As they say, the first century is difficult. Once that comes, the second comes easily. He would have got the feeling of a first century or even better."

Kohli last scored an international century in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in November 2019. Thursday's century put him on par with Ricky Ponting on 71 international tons, only behind Sachin Tendulkar's tally of 100 hundreds.

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"It is definitely being seen" - Irfan Pathan on whether Virat Kohli played the best T20 cricket of his career

Virat Kohli played a few breathtaking shots during his innings.

Pathan was further asked whether Kohli played the best T20 cricket of his career in the Asia Cup. He replied in the affirmative, elaborating:

"It is definitely being seen because he is playing fast and scoring runs continuously. He scored more than 30 runs in the first three matches, two half-centuries, missed out in just one innings, became the highest scorer of the Asia Cup."

Pathan concluded by pointing out that the former skipper's return to run-scoring ways is the biggest positive for India from the continental tournament. The cricketer-turned-commentator said:

"It has definitely been a disappointing Asia Cup for India but Virat Kohli continuing his run and scoring a century is the biggest positive. He hit seven boundaries against spin. The last time he opened in internationals, he scored an unbeaten 80. He carried it forward from where he left while opening and scored a century."

Kohli amassed 276 runs at an outstanding average of 92.00 and an impressive strike rate of 147.59 in his five innings in the Asia Cup. The Indian batting mainstay is 64 runs ahead of Mohammad Rizwan in the top run-getters list, but the Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter will likely get two chances to overhaul his tally.